A tragic shooting rampage in the U.S. state of Iowa has left seven people dead, including the suspected gunman, in what authorities believe was a domestic dispute involving members of the same family.
The incident took place on Monday in Muscatine, a southeastern Iowa city, where police were called to shooting scenes in multiple locations. Officers were called to a home on Park Avenue at 11 a.m. following reports of gunfire, the Muscatine Police Department said yesterday.
When emergency workers arrived at the home, they found four people with gunshot wounds. All four victims were dead at the scene, police said. The suspected shooter was 52-year-old Ryan Willis McFarland, who had already fled the residence before police arrived, investigators said.
Law enforcement officers later found McFarland at the Riverfront Trail near a pedestrian bridge. He had a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said. Even as police officers and emergency medical personnel rushed to save him, McFarland was dead shortly afterwards.
As investigators combed the scene, new information indicated that there were other victims. Police later found another dead man in a residence on Mill Street. A sixth victim was found dead at a business on Grandview Avenue from an apparent gunshot wound.
The deaths brought the total number of fatalities to seven, including the suspected gunman. The identities of the victims have not yet been released publicly as family notifications are still being made.
The shootings were connected to a domestic dispute, Muscatine Police Chief Andy Kies said. All the victims were family members of the suspect, though officials have not yet revealed the exact relationships between those involved, Kies said.
Several agencies have joined the investigation, including the Muscatine County Sheriff’s Office, Iowa State Patrol, Muscatine Fire Department, and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. Detectives will continue to collect evidence from the various crime scenes and interview witnesses to gain a complete picture of events.
The FBI and local authorities said they are looking for any information about the shootings.
The devastating tragedy left Muscatine’s community grieving and raising alarms about domestic violence and domestic violence-related tragedies in the United States.
